Doctor's Hands
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: Merder oneshot. My first greys fic. Meredith has a problem, and Derek's there to fix it. Rated for mature situations, but no sex. Just fluff.


Meredith grimaced as another wave of pain hit her, and hit her hard. Leaning against the rail beside the window, she placed a hand on her lower stomach, composing herself before attempting her walk again. The fire in her lower stomach was pounding against her, making it extremely difficult to stand up straight, let alone walk; especially seeing as the same pressure was loading steadily onto her back as well. If she bent down too fair to ease the ache in her stomach, the pain transfered to her back, and vice versa. She hadn't even considered breakfast that morning, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep any food down that morning. _Here's me thinking that walking was meant to help..._

She had always suffered with strong stomach cramps around the time of her period, ever since she was fourteen. Strangely, after eleven years of them, they hadn't eased up at all. Her mother had told her that it was her body adjusting to changes, and had helped her out by securing medication for her. Whilst she appreciated every bit of pain relief that anything gave her, nothing seemed to work. So she was subjected, once a month, to agonising pains that made her want to curl up into a ball and die.

Being at Seattle Grace had changed that though. With the stress of forty-eight hour shifts, her period had become irregular, and she was glad to find that when she did get it, it came without the agonising pains in her stomach.

Until now.

For the better part of the morning, aspirin had been her saviour, getting her through the morning until people started to notice her in pain. She insisted that she was fine, but it was Christina who called her on the cramps. It was hard not to realise what it was when she had walked in on Meredith in the locker room doubled over, holding her stomach with a pale expression. Immediately, Christina insisted that she go home, but Meredith, stubborn as she was, had insisted she would be fine as soon as the latest batch of aspirin kicked in. When Christina persisted, Meredith went for a walk to prove her point. It had hurt, but the cramping had eased a little, which is when her back started to ache as well.

Christina, having followed her, advised her to talk to one of the residents to get some stronger medication for it, and right on cue, Derek had started to walk towards them, file in his hands.

Luckly, the file he was reading prevented him from seeing them straight away, and as soon as Meredith saw him, she disappeared down the nearest corridor. If there was one person she didn't want to see right now, it was McDreamy. She started to make her way to the call room, knowing that someone as busy as him wouldn't make a stop off there for a while, yet the walk was taking her much longer than usual, because she was supporting herself with handrails the whole way there. Just when she thought the cramping couldn't get any worse, she stumbled into the call room, closing the door behind her as she found herself unable to support her own weight.

Sighing heavily, she let herself fall to the ground, defeated. Using all her energy, she slid along from the door, and into the corner. If anyone did come in, she didn't want the door hitting her in her back - it already hurt enough. She looked longingly at the bunks before her, knowing that she was so close to them, and she just had to haul herself up onto the bed and curl up and sleep, and the pain would go away for a while.

Instead, she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her stomach tightly, and resting her forehead atop her knees. She gave in completely, letting herself cry. She didn't know why she was crying, it was probably the hormones making her emotional, but it was helping as a release. She hated feeling this weak, and knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. Now, the person she hadn't wanted to see had become the person she needed most. She wasn't sure why, but she knew that Derek would have a way to stop the pain.

She didn't hear the footsteps right on the other side of the door, or the person they belonged to saying her name as they opened the door, because her sobs blocked it out. She didn't even know someone else was in the room with her until she felt a hand on her shoulder, and another stroke her hair from where it fell, covering her face.

Looking up, she saw that the person she felt pitiful for needing was now sitting on the ground beside her, facing her. His eyebrows were knitted together tightly, frowing at the sight of her crying, but the compassion in his eyes was exactly what she needed.

"Derek..." She muttered weakly, her voice thick from tears. He moved his hands from her shoulders, so that he could place his arms around her. She leaned into him, legs still drawn up around her stomach, and let him hold her.

"Hey," He said softly, his voice sounding like he was comforting a scared child. "Hey, what's the matter, Mer?"

She looked up at him, wiping her eyes. "Nothing." She said simply. "I'm okay now." But her mind was screaming otherwise. She knew that she should just tell him. He would know that this happened to every woman, some worse than others, and she knew that he was mature enough to not make a fuss any more than need be, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it now that he was here.

"Mer, you're anything but okay." He noticed instantly when she revealed her face to him again. "Look at you. You're paler than a sheet." He observed, putting his hand on her forehead. "You're warm as well." He added, his eyes becoming even more concerned. "How long have you been sick?"

"I didn't know until this morning." She said.

"Have you seen someone about it?" He asked her. She shook her head. "Meredith..."

"It's not that kind of thing, Derek." She told him.

"Have you taken anything?" He asked, and she nodded.

"I took some aspirin. It helped for a bit, but it's not working anymore." She sniffed, trying to get a hold of herself.

"Is it something you've experiences before?" He asked. There was a professional tone to his voice, but it was laced with worry, something that was never present with his patients.

She nodded again. "A lot." She sniffed again, and decided that she should be as honest as she could with him. After all, he was a doctor too. "I used to take something for it, but it never worked very well so..."

"Meredith, if you have medication that you need to be taking..." He started but she cut him off.

"I don't need to take it all the time. Just when I need it." She said.

"What is it?" He asked her, but she didn't answer him. "If you tell me what it is, I might be able to improvise, find you something stronger that can help." He said convincingly.

"I can't remember." She lied, putting her head back down on top of her knees. Derek's arms were still around her.

"What are they for?" He asked again.

"Derek, it doesn't matter now." She said, her voice muffled by her arms. "The pain will be gone in the morning." She realised her mistake in admitting she was in pain, and didn't have to look up to see that Derek was instantly more concerned.

"You're in pain? Mer-?" He asked, but she shook her head.

"It'll be gone in the morning, I've just got to ride it out." She repeated. She found herself wondering why she didn't want Derek, one of her best friends, her boss, and her on-off lover, to know what was wrong when he could so easily cure it?

Derek sighed at her stubborness, and his hands travelled up and down her back, eventually settling on the lower part of it, stroking it gently. Immediatly, he noticed the difference as she seemed to collapse against herself, letting out a sigh. Something triggered.

"Cramps." He said out loud.

Meredith raised her head. "What?"

"You have stomach cramps?" He guessed.

She sighed, and nodded, having been caught out. She should have known better than to try and hide it from a doctor. "However did you guess?" She muttered sarcastically, but Derek knew there was no bitterness directed at him.

"How long until you are due?" He asked.

Meredith blushed, glad that he couldn't see her blushing. "Two days, give or take." She said. "I'm not so regular as I used to be."

He kept his hand rubbing at her back, watching as bit by bit, she eased up a little more. "I had a patient once, when I was a temp experience at a general surgery. Office work." He revealed quietly. "Every month she was just confined to bed for a day or two whilst she got over them. Sometimes it got to the point where they were so strong that her medication just didn't work, and she was in agony. She came back for a review, and said that she'd found another way to help with the pain." He told Meredith

"Please tell me you have a hot water bottle?" She said in a pained voice.

"Sorry, not on me." He said, "But I've got the next best thing."

"Chocolate?"

"Okay, third best thing." He said with a laugh.

"What was it?" Meredith asked, ready to try just about anything at that moment.

"Turn around, I'll show you." He instructed, and she shuffed around so that her back was facing him.

Derek edged forward placing his legs either side of her, he placed one hand on her back, but when he went to put his other hand on her front, he found that her legs were blocking him out.

"Meredith," He said softly, leaning in closely. "I can't do this with your legs up." He told her.

"It doesn't hurt as much like this, though." She reasoned.

"Please, Mer, let me help you?" He asked her, and slowly, she stretched her legs out before her.

With better access now, Derek placed his other hand on her lower stomach. She leaned her head back on his shoulder, but not as much so that his hand on her back was crushed. That hand continued to rub her back, easing the pain, and his other began to rub small circles against her stomach. Lack of food recently meant that her scrubs had become that little bit looser around her hips, so Derek managed to get away with sneaking his hand about an inch below her belt. She tensed up at his touch going lower, but when she found that he had found the exact spot to make his massage work, she completely forgot about where his hand was, and what had been happening the last time his hand was there.

He continued rubbing small yet firm circles against her stomach, trying to loosen it up. "Meredith," He began, awkwardly. "You've been working at Seattle Grace for almost a year now." He said, and she nodded in agreement. "Was it this bad the last time as well?" He asked.

She shook her head. "All the hours I had must have stressed my body, which is why everything got irregular."

Derek frowned, "Why didn't you come to me sooner?"

"I didn't come to you at all, Derek, you came to me." She pointed out.

He sighed, she was right. Would she even have said anything at all if he hadn't come across her? He thanked Christina for the hint that something was wrong with Meredith. She hadn't told him what was wrong, only that something was wrong and she had taken off to the call room. "I could have helped you, Mer." He told her. "I could have found you something, a painkiller, anything to help with the pain."

"I know." She said sadly. "I just..."

"Stubborn little thing, aren't you." He mused, and subconsciously placed a kiss on her forehead. Neither of them thought any more of it than a simple friendship kiss, no different from the kiss on the cheek they would give as a greeting in the morning, or one before they parted for the night.

"I can't help it." She shrugged.

"How do you usually deal with the pain?" He asked her.

"Umm..." She trailed off. "I don't. It kinda deals with me." She revealed, knowing that he wasn't going to like that. After all, he was a doctor, and her friend. Then again, she was a doctor. She should know better.

"Were you sick?" He asked.

"I threw up a couple of times." She said, there was no point lying anymore. She may as well just tell him now. That way, things might be a lot more easier the next time around.

Derek sighed heavily again. As the pain in her back subsided almost completely, Meredith sat up more, then settled back completely against Derek's chest. With use of both of his hands now, he continued his massage on her stomach. Already the pain felt more bearable. After a few more minutes in silence, Meredith spoke up.

"How do you do it, Derek?" She asked. "I can put pressure on my stomach until the cows come home but it never works like this does."

"The key isn't in the pressure." He told her gently. "It's in the warmth it creates. The movement over your stomach heats it up, and works in the same way a hot water bottle would, only with more pressure." He said, remembering how his patient had given him the idea from her own experience, and he had realised that medically, it was a perfectly natural remedy.

"So, if it gets bad again, I should just do this?" She checked.

"Yeah." Derek said with a nod. "If it doesn't work, it's because your body heat that comes from your hands is always going to be the same as in your stomach, and it might need an outside source emitting the same heat." He told her.

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning that you should come and find me, or send someone else to get me, and I'll lend a helping hand." He said with a smile.

"But, you're always so busy." She protested. "_We're _always so busy."

"Never too busy for you." He told her, with another kiss to the top of her head. "And I mean it, Me. If it hurts, even if its in the middle of the night, call me, come see me. I don't care what I'm doing, or anything else, just, come and get me, because I hate the idea of you being in pain and just suffering it."

Hearing just how much he really did care, Meredith gave a smile. "Ok."

"Promise me?"

"I promise." She said, nodding.

He looked up at the bunk closest to them. "Think you can make it onto the bed?"

"Honestly? No." She shook her head. She started to climb to her feet anyway though, falling straight back down beside Derek, who was more than ready to catch her. She groaned. "This can't be happening. I've got post-ops to check, and then I'm in the pit for sutures..."

"You're not on duty anymore." He corrected. "You need rest. I'm taking you home."

"Derek, I'm fine." She said, as he helped her onto her feet. She still found herself in pain, and although it wasn't as bad as before due to his wonderful hands, she still couldn't walk all to well. He noticed her wince and lean forward with her hands on her knees.

"Meredith, you're not fine." He said.

"But the patients-"

"The patients will be cared for by somebody else. I'm taking you home." He assured her, bringing her arm around his shoulders as if to help her walk. "And once we get there you're going to eat, lay down, and rest." He said. "I'll take care of everything else."

She nodded, and she started in the direction of the door. Derek had other ideas, and put one arm under her knees, and another around her back as he lifted her back into his arms. "Derek-"

"You need to rest, Meredith, not strain your body more than you have already." He said. "Otherwise you're going to burn up even more."

Without any more argument, Meredith allowed him to carry her, if only for the medical reason. She had to admit that she was comfortable. She loved being in his arms. She wrapped her arms around her neck, securing them tightly as she closed her eyes. "Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." She mumbled.

He smiled. He leaned down to give her another kiss, meaning to catch her forehead as he had done before, but at the same time, she lifted her face to smile at him, and he caught her lips instead. Strangely, his lip lingered there before pulling back slowly. Meredith's eyes were closed, but when they opened, she looked up at him with the look he hadn't been expecting. He had expected awkwardness, or embarrasment; he was sure his eyes showed the slip up, but instead, her eyes were filled with an inviting look which caused him to lower his lips to her again.

Although this wasn't their first kiss, the magic that jumped between their clashing lips could easily had fooled them into thinking otherwise. Meredith parted her lips, allowing him to deepen the kiss, and she let out a gentle moan as his tongue danced alongside hers, exploring her mouth. Her moan spurred him on more, and he continued to kiss her until they both were fighting for breath. He lifted his lips from hers once again, looking down on her with such emotion in his eyes that was reflected equally in her own. She leaned up, starting the kiss this time, and this time it was gentle, slower, and more controlled. Meredith hated her stomach cramps, but right now, she wouldn't change them for the world. Derek's lips worshipped her own until the sound of a voice broke them apart.

"Mer! There you are!"

They broke apart, and they turned in the direction of Izzie who was walking into the room.

"We've been looking all over for you, and Christina said you were most likely with McDreamy so..." Izzie lapsed into silence as he took a double take at what was right infront of his eyes. Derek holding Meredith in his arms, almost protectively, and both of them were breathing rather heavily. "..you guys were just kissing and stuff weren't you?" She realised, a strange look over his face.

They looked at each other. "Uhh...yeah." Derek said. "Yeah, we were."

"Not the pathetic goodnight ones that you usually give each other?" She checked.

"No." He said, shaking his head, and smiling at Meredith

"Like, for real?"

"I sure hope it was for real." Derek said. "Otherwise my imagination's got some explaining to do." Meredith decided not to answer any of Izzie's questions, because she was having too much fun watching Derek struggle with them.

"Like, love, real?"

"Love real?" Meredith asked, taking back her decision.

"You know, are you guys not denying it anymore?"

"Denying what, Dr Stevens?" Derek laughed.

"That you love each other!" Both of them stared blankly at her. "Oh geez. You're still denying it." She said, and waved a hand in the air, then shouted back as she started to leave. "By the way, Bailey's going ape looking for you two."

The pair laughed to themselves as Izzie disappeared as quickly as she had appeared in the first place. Meredith shook her head. "Are we denying anything?" She asked.

"It seems like everyone else thinks we are." Derek said, shaking his head.

"Let them think that." Meredith said. "For once in my life I don't care what people think." She said, and Derek kissed her again.

"We'd better get to Bailey before she kills one of us." Derek said.

As soon as they left the room, Meredith's cramps hit her again. She didn't say anything to Derek, but he knew that she was in pain again by the way that her eyes were tightly shut with her deep frown. They were getting a lot of looks from everybody because he was carrying her through the hospital, but they were nothing to the one that Bailey gave them when they came across her. Derek explained to her that she would need to arrange cover for both himself and Meredith for the day, and more than likely tomorrow unless she heard specifically from him before the morning. Bailey took one look at Meredith, pale with a shine of sweat on her forehead, and understood.

Once they got back to Meredith's house, which took far too long for the pained woman, Meredith was near enough in agony again. Every few seconds, she would give a tiny moan that never left her throat. She seemed to be in more pain that when he found her before. George greeted them when they walked into the living room area.

"Hi, Dr Shephard, why are - Mer?" He spotted the painstricken Meredith in Derek's arms and followed Derek curiously upstairs to Meredith's bedroom. As he lay Meredith down, he turned to George

"Is there a hot water bottle in this place?" He asked him

"I think so, in the bathroom."

"Can you bring it in here, and a towel?" He asked, and George wandered off to find it.

Derek unlatched Meredith's arms from around his neck, and lay her back on the bed. She had broken into a sweat again, even though he had mopped that up when he had put her in the car, and was still frowning with her eyes closed. Derek brought his hand to her forehead, sweeping away her hair. "It's getting worse, isn't it?"

"I lied." She said simply. "About the name of my medicine. I do know what it's called." She said, almost through gritted teeth.

"Oh, Mer...What is it?"

"Mefanamic acid." She said quickly. "It helped at first but I had to take so many that I ended up immune to them."

"We could try some Trexanamic acid." Jack suggested, kissing her forehead quickly. "I'll call Burke and get him to arrange some. Hopefully Izzie could bring it home with her this evening." George walked into the room with the towel and hot water bottle. "Thanks, George." He said, taking it from him and putting it to one side for the moment.

Meredith was now laying on her side, curled into a ball and holding herself. Derek wrapped the hot water bottle in the towel, knowing that through her thin scrubs she still wore and with the heat of the hot water bottle itself, it would burn her otherwise, and then he placed it against her lower stomach, where he knew the pain was. When she realised that he had actually gotten her a hot water bottle, she smiled at him.

"Thank you." She said.

"You just get some rest, okay?" He said softly, and, forgetting George was in the room, he continued to lean over her, caressing her back softly because he knew that it was hurting as much as her stomach was.

"Okay. You're staying with me?" She asked quietly.

"I'm not going anywhere." He assured her, and leaned to give her a kiss on the forehead. "Just try to sleep, you won't feel the pain then." He said, and she nodded, laying her head down on its side and sighing against the pillow. "I love you, Meredith."

----------------

Four weeks later, Meredith got pains again, and again it was Chritina who found her almost writing in pain on the floor of the call room.

"Mer! What's wrong?" She asked, going to her side.

"Cramps." She muttered weakly.

"You want me to-"

"-get Derek." Meredith finished for her with a tiny laugh. "He made me promise after last time."

Christina caught George at the door, and sent him to get Derek, and then went back to Meredith, sitting beside her on the bunk. It was a slow and unusually quiet day at Seattle Grace, so it was only a matter of minutes until Derek was on her other side.

"It's not working." Meredith said simply, tears welled in her eyes just like before. "I tried to stop them myself, like you said, but it's not working."

"It's alright." Derek said, smoothing her hair and giving her a kiss. "We'll get through this together again, Okay?"

Meredith nodded, and Christina made herself scarce, dragging George along with her, as Derek positioned himself behind Meredith, and began massaging her stomach rythmically. Christina called back to her at at the last minute.

"Mer?" Meredith looked over at Christina tiredly. "Does that really work?" She asked, notioning to what Derek was doing.

"More than anything." She said, leaning into Derek even more, and Christina disappeared. "Sorry to call you away from your work." Meredith said simply.

"Don't worry about it." He said, kissing her on the lips this time. "In a choice between you and Bailey's ranting, I think it's safe to say that I'm going to pick you." He said, bringing a smile to her lips.

"You know, it's ridiculous how much I love you." She said with a weak laugh, "But I wouldn't change it for the world."


End file.
